On Ming.

I feel I should get this out of the way early on, so I am not forced to constantly backtrack and explain my views. I have topics and ideas surging at an irascible rate, and this on the very first day - 'twas barely hours hence that I lost my Gameriot virginity, my tender hymen punctured by probing comments. In order to get to it, business as usual, I need to slough off the inherent obligations related to such a venture.

Obviously Ming is an influence, as he has influenced all of us who form the Gameriot community. On an individual level, however, Ming-sama means many different things. To one man, he is a friend; to another, an obstacle. Such is the price that comes with notoriety: heavy is the head that wears the crown. I do play a Rogue currently, although I have spent most of my adventures in Azeroth as a Warrior. Class-wise, I do not find Ming to be especially influential; there was nothing he did that others didn't do first, though perhaps he did it better. I would cite Hector, Grim, and the venerated Rontu (How you doing, Christian?) of my home server as the first few smiths who, through the sheer force of their will, crafted videos to attract the eye and excite the loins.

However, it was not about playing the game that attracted me to the World of Ming. In fact, it was the negative feedback that piqued my interest. Can you imagine? One of my associates would barge into my parlor (that is my private ventrilo channel), breathing huskily in excitement, and relate to me how there is "some weird anime guy who calls everyone chakras and jujitsus." Curiosity got the best of me. I will say, I was drawn to the subtle aura that pervades the air about Ming, the soft yellow glow that radiates from his presence. It was not the Rogue that enticed me in his seductive web, but the businessman, and the writer.

Among his accomplishments, heaped heavy (I imagine) upon some crude Buddhist shrine, there is one that intrigued me. He pioneered. Most people hardly took gaming blogs seriously before the World of Ming. Like Laura Ingalls before him, he trudged the trails of the unknown, forged a path through the tall grass, and paved the way for gamers and Asian-Americans alike. He did not hesitate, or balk at a challenge; no, Ming reached out and grasped what he wanted. Now he is wealthy and engaged, whereas I am fat and lonely. I learn my lessons well.

Perhaps I do not possess his work ethic. I have always been lazy. My first job ended in termination when my superiors discovered the nest I had created in a maintenance closet to support my sleeping habit. I do, however, have the will to persevere when something like this is considered. I have certain qualities that fit the blogger's bill. I am genial, and somewhat of a local legend around my native server. I tend to build bridges where I go, rather than burn them. I am a silver-tongued devil, almost Irish in my eloquence; a cunning linguist among my female friends, with panache enough to be compared to Brendan Fraser's character in The Mummy. And that, my friends, was a great film.